Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Jennie C. Parnham, Kiara Chang, Fernanda Rauber, Renata B. Levy, Christopher Millett, Anthony A. Laverty, Stephanie von Hinke, Eszter P. Vamos
Summary: British children have the highest levels of ultra-processed food consumption in Europe, and the level of UPF consumed in schools is currently unknown. This study determined the UPF content of school food in the UK and found that both primary and secondary schoolchildren have high UPF intake. The study highlights the need for better guidance and policies to improve school food and children's diets.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Erin Haney, Jennie C. Parnham, Kiara Chang, Anthony A. Laverty, Stephanie von Hinke, Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard, Martin White, Christopher Millett, Eszter P. Vamos
Summary: School meals in the UK are nutritionally superior to packed lunches, especially for younger children. However, as children age, the quality of both school meals and packed lunches decline, with a higher proportion of school meals containing unhealthy snacks.
PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION
(2023)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Mary Kay Fox, Elizabeth C. Gearan, Colin Schwartz
Summary: Research has shown that school meals and children's dietary intakes are high in added sugars relative to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) limit of 10%, with flavored skim milk and sweetened cold cereals being the leading sources of added sugars. These findings provide insights into the types of foods that should be targeted to reduce levels of added sugars.
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Kellseigh Gan, Carly Tithecott, Lisa Neilson, Jamie A. Seabrook, Paula Dworatzek
Summary: The study found that picky eating children consumed lower amounts of protein, vitamins, and minerals in their home-packed lunches, with less intake of meat and alternatives, vegetables and fruit, and fruit in the picky eating group. However, all children's lunches did not meet Canada's Food Guide recommendations, highlighting the need for improvements in overall nutritional quality.
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Lisa J. Neilson, Lesley A. Macaskill, Jonathan M. H. Luk, Navreeti Sharma, Marina Salvadori, Jamie A. Seabrook, Paula D. N. Dworatzek
Summary: This study compared the caloric and nutrient values of packed lunches and found that those brought by students in the Balanced School Day (BSD) had higher energy and nutrient content compared to those in the Traditional Schedule (TS). Students in the BSD consumed more energy and nutrients, suggesting that two 20-minute eating opportunities could contribute to excess caloric intake and potentially childhood overweight and obesity. Both schedules had packed lunches with excess amounts of nutrients of concern, highlighting the need for nutritious lunches in Canadian schools.
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Laura Seiverling, Jennifer Felber, Monica Howard, Keith Williams, Helen M. Hendy
Summary: This study examined the foods packed and consumed by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and found a high correspondence between the two. The study also found that a higher percentage of meals met the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) guidelines compared to previous non-ASD samples. Furthermore, fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption was associated with the number of FVs packed and the total number of foods packed.
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Rok nik, Katja Rostohar, Barbara Skrjanc, Barbara Korousic Seljak, Urska Blaznik, Jerneja Farkas
Summary: The survey found that school lunches in Slovene primary schools had lower values for energy, carbohydrates, and total fats compared to the recommended guidelines, while exceeding the values for salt, saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Ines Delgado, Marta Ventura, Sandra Gueifao, Ricardo Assuncao, Ines Coelho, Alexandra Bento, Jose Armando L. Silva, Isabel Castanheira
Summary: This study analyzed the iodine content of school meals in Portuguese children and found that adding iodized salt to at least one main meal per day is sufficient to meet the recommended daily iodine intake. The main sources of iodine are dairy products and fish.
JOURNAL OF FOOD COMPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Amanda Bunten, Lucy Porter, Jilla Burgess-Allen, Rebecca Howell-Jones, Jessica Jackson, Derek Ward, Vicki Staples, Paul Staples, Harriet Rowthorn, Ayoub Saei, Paul van Schaik, Elizabeth Tydeman, Penny Blair, Orla Hugueniot, Natalie Gold, Tim Chadborn
Summary: Interventions to encourage healthier packed lunches by parents of primary school children did not significantly increase provision of healthier lunches, indicating a need for further research on how behavioral science can support families to improve the nutritional content of children's lunchboxes.
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Romane Poinsot, Florent Vieux, Matthieu Maillot, Nicole Darmon
Summary: Reducing the number of meal components and increasing the number of vegetarian meals can decrease the environmental impact of school meals, but may decrease the nutritional quality. Pairing vegetarian meals with fish and non-ruminant meats can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining good nutritional quality.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NUTRITION
(2022)
Editorial Material
Nutrition & Dietetics
Rebecca Louise McIntyre, Ashley J. Adamson, Michael Nelson, Jayne Woodside, Shirley Beattie, Suzanne Spence
Summary: This paper examines changes to school food standards in the UK since 2010, the provision of free school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the potential impact on children's diets. It highlights the need for consistent monitoring of school food across the UK and the evaluation of its impact on children's diets. The response and management of free school meal provision during COVID-related school closures varied among the UK nations.
NUTRITION BULLETIN
(2022)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Juliana F. W. Cohen, Michele Polacsek, Christina E. Hecht, Ken Hecht, Margaret Read, Deborah A. Olarte, Anisha Patel, Marlene B. Schwartz, Lindsey Turner, Monica Zuercher, Wendi Gosliner, Lorrene D. Ritchie
Summary: School meals play a crucial role in supporting children's diets and food security. Universal school meals policies have the potential to improve child health outcomes. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges, particularly in terms of costs and financial sustainability. Future challenges include obtaining income information from families, ensuring product and ingredient availability, and addressing the financial sustainability of school meal programs.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Juliana FW. Cohen, Scott Richardson, William W. March, Wendi Gosliner, Russ Hauser
Summary: This study found a high detection rate of di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate (DEHA) in school meals, which poses potential health risks. Additionally, pesticides were detected in produce and entrees, but at low levels. Overall, school meals remain a healthy option for children, and the use of plastic packaging should be minimized.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Telma Nogueira, Raquel J. Ferreira, Vitoria Dias da Silva, Mariana Linan Pinto, Carlos Damas, Joana Sousa
Summary: This study examined the nutritional composition of school lunches, finding that certain components did not meet reference values while others exceeded them. It emphasized the importance of addressing school canteens for healthier and sustainable food systems in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Michael W. Long, Keith Marple, Tatiana Andreyeva
Summary: The provision of universal free meals in high-poverty school areas may reduce meal costs, especially in medium and large schools. The quality of diet did not significantly vary under universal free meals, indicating that cost reduction can be achieved without compromising nutritional quality. Future studies may need to focus on assessing student percentage and cost implications with more recent data and longitudinal designs.
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Elli Kontostoli, Andy P. Jones, Natalie Pearson, Louise Foley, Stuart J. H. Biddle, Andrew J. Atkin
Summary: This cross-sectional study examines the association of contemporary screen behaviours with physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep in adolescents. The study found that the use of social network sites was associated with less time in MVPA and sedentary behaviours, and all screen behaviours were associated with shorter sleep duration on weekdays. Only the use of email/texts and social network sites was associated with shorter sleep duration on weekend days. The association of using social network sites with overall physical activity was stronger in girls than in boys, while the association of internet browsing with sedentary behaviour was stronger in boys than in girls.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Emily A. Thorburn-Winsor, Sharon A. S. Neufeld, Harriet Rowthorn, Esther M. F. van Sluijs, Soren Brage, Peter B. Jones, Ian M. Goodyer, Eleanor M. Winpenny
Summary: Sleep deprivation in adolescence is increasing in prevalence and may be linked to subsequent depression. Falling asleep later and shorter sleep duration are associated with higher depressive symptoms in both males and females. However, there is inconsistent evidence regarding the longitudinal associations between sleep duration and changes in depressive symptoms in adolescents.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
(2022)
Article
Critical Care Medicine
Vrindha Pari
Summary: This study developed a set of actionable quality indicators for critical care in low- or middle-income countries (LMICs). Through a Delphi exercise and expert panel discussions, 57 prioritized indicators were identified, providing a reference for improving clinical care.
INTENSIVE CARE MEDICINE
(2022)
Review
Nutrition & Dietetics
Mairead Ryan, Olivia Alliott, Erika Ikeda, Jian'an Luan, Riikka Hofmann, Esther van Sluijs
Summary: School-based activity behaviour interventions led by teachers lack effective training and have limited impact on student outcomes. Few evidence-based BCTs have been used to promote sustained behaviour change amongst teachers in these interventions, which may explain why interventions are failing to affect student outcomes.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Bina Ram, Kimberley A. Foley, Esther van Sluijs, Dougal S. Hargreaves, Russell M. Viner, Sonia Saxena
Summary: This study aimed to develop a core outcome set (COS) for physical activity interventions in primary schools. A four-stage process was conducted, including extracting outcomes from relevant studies, producing a list of outcomes, conducting a Delphi survey, and achieving consensus through a stakeholder meeting. Fourteen outcomes were identified, categorized into three domains: physical activity and health, social and emotional health, and educational performance.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Stephanie T. Jong, Rebecca Stevenson, Eleanor M. Winpenny, Kirsten Corder, Esther M. F. van Sluijs
Summary: This study explored adolescents' perspectives of signing up to and continuing involvement in a hypothetical longitudinal health research study. Social connection, personalised feedback, and financial incentives were identified as driving factors for sign-up, while lack of interest, the perception of commitment, and timing of recruitment were key barriers. Adolescents preferred recruitment processes via social media, monthly data collection, and hybrid data collection with in-person contact with a consistent, non-judgemental researcher.
BMC MEDICAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Gerontology
Amanda Burke, Andy Jones
Summary: Physical activity decreases with age, ill health, and disability. This study examined a low-threshold intervention to address barriers to older people's participation in physical activity in residential care and sheltered housing. The findings showed that the program successfully reduced sedentary behavior, increased moderate/vigorous physical activity, and improved health-related quality of life and fear of falling for the participants.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED GERONTOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Megan Polden, Andrew Jones, Jean Adams, Tom Bishop, Thomas Burgoine, Michael Essman, Stephen J. Sharp, Richard Smith, Martin White, Eric Robinson
Summary: Prior to the implementation of the 2022 kcal labelling policy, most large businesses in the out-of-home food sector in England did not provide kcal labelling. Few customers noticed or used the labels, and on average, customers purchased and consumed significantly more calories than recommended in public health guidelines. The findings suggest that voluntary action for kcal labelling implementation failed to produce widespread, consistent, and adequate labelling practices.
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Eleanor M. Winpenny, Harriet Rowthorn, Stefanie Hollidge, Kate Westgate, Ian M. Goodyer, Soren Brage, Esther M. F. van Sluijs
Summary: Insufficient sleep is associated with weight gain and metabolic dysregulation due to the reduction in diet quality. This study examines the effect of sleep duration and timing on diet quality the following day among free-living adolescents and finds that shorter sleep duration at night leads to a decrease in diet quality.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
(2023)
Review
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Mairead Ryan, Tammy Hoffmann, Riikka Hofmann, Esther van Sluijs
Summary: Reporting of intervention research has been insufficient for many years. Despite the development and promotion of freely available checklists to improve reporting, inadequate reporting of intervention components remains a widespread issue. An assessment of journal submission guidelines revealed that only one out of 33 journals encouraged the use of reporting checklists for all intervention components. Urgent action is needed to address this problem and improve the evidence base.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Olivia Alliott, Hannah Fairbrother, Kirsten Corder, Paul Wilkinson, Esther van Sluijs
Summary: The study aims to investigate socioeconomic inequities in the intervention and evaluation process of the GoActive physical activity intervention and demonstrates a novel approach to evaluating intervention-related inequalities. The results indicate that the GoActive intervention had a more favorable impact on MVPA and BMI for adolescents of low socioeconomic position, despite lower intervention engagement. However, differential response to evaluation measures may have biased these conclusions.
Article
Pediatrics
Campbell Foubister, Russell Jago, Stephen J. J. Sharp, Esther M. F. van Sluijs
Summary: This study examined the association between time spent on social media use and BMI z-score in adolescents, particularly focusing on potential explanatory pathways for boys and girls. The results showed that girls who spent more than 5 hours per day on social media had a higher BMI z-score, and this association was partially explained by sleep duration, depressive symptoms, body-weight satisfaction, and well-being.
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Danielle L. Harvey, Karen Milton, Andy P. Jones, Andrew J. Atkin
Summary: This review examined questionnaires used in national surveillance systems to measure sedentary behavior. The findings showed that most questionnaires used a single-item measure of sitting time, with work and domestic purposes being the most commonly captured behaviors and television viewing and computer use being the most frequently captured types of behaviors. Therefore, national surveillance systems should be regularly reviewed to keep up with the latest evidence on behavior patterns and public health guidelines.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY & HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Lindsey Smith, Thomas Burgoine, David Ogilvie, Andy Jones, Emma Coombes, Jenna Panter
Summary: This study demonstrates the use of objective data to measure changes in behavior and physical activity in response to changes in the built environment. The findings suggest that changes in transportation infrastructure can lead to changes in commuting patterns and physical activity levels, which may have positive effects on health and wellbeing.
JOURNAL OF TRANSPORT & HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Kathryn R. Hesketh, Janis Baird, Sarah R. Crozier, Keith M. Godfrey, Nicholas C. Harvey, Cyrus Cooper, Esther M. F. van Sluijs
Summary: This study aimed to explore the relationship between activity behaviors before/during pregnancy and later parenthood. The results showed that women who sat for long periods of time before/during pregnancy were more sedentary 4-7 years postpartum, and those who engaged in moderate-/strenuous exercise before/during pregnancy were more active in later parenthood.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY & HEALTH
(2023)